My name is Torsten Knabe and I have a strong curiosity for learning and unlearning. Many behaviors and thoughts are taken for granted without an analysis of what the implications of them are. I strive to continually analyse my own thoughts and actions for improvement to unlearn those things that are marginalizing and to learn new skills and actions that aren't. I am currently a legislative aide in the Maryland General Assembly (MGA). Our office used to respond individually to constituent concerns during session without keeping track of the data over time or using a consistent file directory system. I created a new system for the office to enter constituent data into a form so that on the back-end we could track what issues were prevalent and respond appropriately. This doubled the end of session letter output to targeted constituents from the previous year.

Prior to the MGA, I interned for Representative Patrick Murphy tasked with press clippings and reaching out to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Veterans Affairs for constituent data for a 499 proactive constituent outreach program.

During the 82nd session of the Texas legislature (2011) I coordinated over 70 students across Texas to lobby for H.B. 1492 which would provide competitive insurance benefits for University of Texas and Texas A&M system faculty and staff. The effort was unsuccessful, however the establishment of the network was integral in allowing for distributed lobbying which ended up defeating an amendment to ban gender and sexuality centers from universities in Texas. You can watch the debate over the amendment here: http://trib.it/iJ0dL7

I'm passionate about transportation and housing policy, government transparency, and systems design. Originally from Dallas, Texas, I now live in Baltimore, Maryland and am an avid cyclist and train enthusiast living near the largest train station I could find in the city. In my spare time I enjoy volunteering for campaigns or progressive organizations, blues dancing, discovering new recipes on yummly.com, the oxford comma, and linux.

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